Apparatus for treating ores.



PATENTED MAY 21, 1907.

T. D. PITTS. APPARATUS FOR TREATING ORBS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.15, 1904.

Us MO Y "WE/Iron om a Jfl Fifi! WIT/I S858 ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERSca, WASHINGTON, B. c

I No. 854,526. PATBNTED MAY 21, 1907.

v T. 1). PITTS.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING DEBS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 15, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I I I wmv ssEs v [NYE/470R,

720M612 Paw 7H: NORRIS PETERS 0a., wAsl-rmamn, n. c,

rns PATENT FFIOE.

THOMAS D. PIT TS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGN OR TO THE NEW CYANIDEPROCESS COMPANY, OF NEW. YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1907.

Application filed August 15, 1904. Serial No. 220,723.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS D. Pirrs, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forTreating Ores, of which the following is a specification, such as willenable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates particularly to ap paratus for use in theextraction of gold and silver from ores, concentrates, slimes, andtailings by what is known as the cyanid process in which cyanid ofpotasslum or other chemicals are employed and involv ing a rotaryleaching cylindrical casing or barrel; and the object of thisinventionis to provide an apparatus of the class specified, which issimple in construction and effective in operation and whereby the saltsof base metals or other hindering substances may be more effectuallyremoved, and the drawing oil of the hydrogen and hydrocyanic fumes fromthe leaching cylinder or barrel and replacing the same with oxygen and afresh cyanid of potassium or other solvent cyanogen compound solution inthe form of a spray may be easily effected, so as to provide means forbreaking up relatively impenetrable lumps of slime, and thereby bringingabout a more perfect leaching of the gold and silver and a more perfectseparation thereof from the ores, concentrates, slime and the like.

This invention is an improvement on that described and claimed in UnitedStates Letters Patent No. 710495 granted on the application of Sidney T.Muffly October 7, 1902, and is fully disclosed in the followingspecification, of which the accompanying draw-.

ing forms a part, in which the separate parts of the invention aredesignated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and inwhich Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of an apparatusembodying my nvention; Fig. 2 a plan view thereof; and, Fig. 3 asectidnal end. view thereof looking in the direction of the arrow 0/; ofFig. 1.

In the practice of my invention I provide a casing or barrel a which inthe construction shown is cylindrical in form and which may be composedof any desired material, and the The baffle lates a are arran ed at reular p o o intervals, and in the form of construction shown eighteen ofthe same are employed, and these plates are secured to annular bands orrings a which are secured to the inner walls of the casing or barrel (1by means of angular brackets or similar devices a and in the form ofconstruction shown three of the rings or hands a are employed, and eachof the baffle plates a is composed of two parts being divided by thecentral ring or band if, and in the form of construction shown, thecasing or barrel (,1 is also composed of separate parts united centrallyas shown at a, this connection, in the form of construction shown, beingmade by telescoping one part into the other, and it will be understoodthat the separate parts ofthe casing or barrel a are riveted together atof, and the rings or bands a are riveted to the angular brackets a whichin turn are riveted casing or barrel a, the method of riveting thebaffle plates a to the rings or bands a being shown at a in Fig. 3. a

The casing or barrel 0 isprovided near its opposite ends with supports 6in which are mounted grooved wheels 6 or barrel is provided with annularbands 6 forming annular tracks which fit in and travel in the grooves inthe Wheels b and said annular bands or tracks I) in the form ofconstruction shown are similar in cross sec tion to the cross section ofan I-beam, and secured to one of said bands or tracks b is an annulargear 5 and arranged centrally of one of the supports 1) is a shaft Ifprovided at one end with a gear wheel 1) which operates in connectionwith the annular gear b, and the shaft 6 is provided at its other endwith a belt or power wheel 5 and the casing or bar rel a may, by meansof this construction, be rotated in either direction as will be readilyunderstood.

The casing or barrel a is provided at the right hand end thereof, in theform of construction shown, and centrally of said end with an opening 0in which is secured a stuff to the walls of the v and said casing thepatent hereinbefore referred to.

The opposite end of the casing or barrel a or the left hand end thereof,in the form of construction shown, is also provided with an opening a inwhich is secured a stuffing boxf composed, as usual, of two parts f 2and and secured in the stufling box f is a pipe 9 the inner end of whichis provided with a fourway coupling g with which is connected avertically arranged pipe 9 the upper end of which is provided with athree-way coupling g having an inwardly and downwardly curved goose neckor elbow attachment g and the bottom and inner sides of the fourwaycoupling g are closed by screw-threaded plugs g, while the top side ofthe three-way coupling 7* is closed by a similar plug 9 The outer endof. the pipe 9 is provided with a four-way coupling h with the top sideof which is connected a discharge pipe it having a pressure regulatingvalve h of any preferred construction, and the bottom and outer sides ofthe four-way coupling h are closed by screw-threaded plugs h One end ofthe casing or barrel a is provided with draw off valves its one of whichis shown, and these valves are intended for drawing off samples of thecontents of the barrel or casing so as to make tests.

The casing or barrel a is also provided in the form of constructionshown, and in the top thereof, with. two manholes or openings i closedin the usual or any preferred manner, and these openings serve as meansfor the insertion or passing into the casing or barrel, of ores,concentrates, slime and the like, and any chemicals mingled therewith.

. In the operation of this apparatus the casing or barrel a isconstantly rotated on its supports and the tubes d and g are heldstationary and any suitable means may be provided for strengthening,bracing or supporting said tubes, and it will be understood that thepipe 9 and the parts connected therewith are held stationary in thecasing or barrel and the upright pipe 9 is always held in an uprightposition and the elbow or goose neck attachment g is directeddownwardly. The pipe 9 is also provided with a flange or collar withinthe stufling box f which facilitates the closing of said box or themaking of a tight coupling or connection between said box and said pipe.

The operation of this apparatus will be readily understood from theforegoing description when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings and the following statement, and the advantages of my inventionwill be manifest to all who are conversant with devices of thischaracter. The

ores, concentrates, slime and the like, together with a small portion ofa weak solution (preferably a onequarterof-oneper cent. solution) ofcyanid of potassium and only suificient in amount to saturate the ores,are passed into the casing or barrel through the opening or openings i.These openings may be simply formed similar to those shown in thedrawing, or they may be similar to that shown and described in theUnited States patent hereinbefore referred to. Power is then applied torotate the casing or barrel a, and the effective leaching of the orescommences. As thisoperation continues, air of the most efficienttemperature and a fresh solution of the same or any other desiredstrength, according to the character of the ore under treatment, isforced through the pipe d into the casing or barrelin the form of sprayor otherwise. Air may be forced in alone, either hot or cold, and itsamount and force may be governed in any desired way by suitableregulating valves as in the patent hereinbefore referred to, and theadmission of thecyanid solution with said air may also be regulated inany desired way or-as in the patent hereinbefore referred to, and inthis way the forcing of air and cyanid solution into the casing orbarrel may be regulated to any desired extent. In this operation the airmay also be heated to any desired extent and the extent of the heatingof the air will depend on the character of the ores and other materialto be treated. This injection of air and cyanid solution into the casingor barrel 0, coincidently with the rotation or revolution of said casingor barrel serves a plurality of purposes. It provides a more effectualand economical supply of oxygen. It creates and maintains the mosteffective and the most constant temperature. It instantaneously addsfresh cyanid of potassium or other solvent in the form of spraycontinuously. It forces the oxygen and also the solution into andbetween all the parts of the ore-charge within the casing or barrelduring any special time or during the entire time, according to thecharacter of the ores operated upon. It supplies oxygen to replace thatelement as rapidly as it separates from the cyanogen compound to enterinto, new molecular combination with gold, silver and potassium. It alsoregenerates or strengthens the solution with a constant sup ply of thesolvent compound, thereby preventing chemical inertia by replacingcyanogen which has combined with hydrogen liberated in the passing overof oxygen to form the new compoundsauropotassic cyanid, argento-potassiccyanid, and potassic hydrate. Moreover, a systemic agitation is producedof the ores, concentrates and the like within the casing or barrel asthe latter is rotated,-said ores, concentrates or the like being carriedup by the baffle plates a and caused to fall by gravity through saidcasing or barrel at different angles and from different points and thusmingle with the warm currents of the air and the spray of solution whichcontinuously enters the casing or barrel, and this systematic agitation,besides supplying oxygen to replace that element as it is needed in thecyanogen compounds, also serves for another purpose, namely that ofremoving films ofinsoluble basic oxids from the surface of coarse goldthereby rendering it more immediately amenable to the chemicaltreatment.

In the foregoing operation the poisonous hydrocyanic fumes generatedfrom the excess of hydrogen and cyanogen liberated by the combination ofthe oxygen with gold, silver and potassium are carried off through thepipes g, g and 72 to any desired point, and these pipes being heldstationary as hereinbefore described, the elbow or goose neck connection9 is always in the best position to receive said fumes and to dischargethe, same through the pipes g, g and 71/ and in this operation thepressure within the easing or barrel a is regulated by the pressurevalve 7L3.

The agitation of the ores, concentrates and the like by the baffleplates a also breaks up and thoroughly disintegrates the vitrified lumpsoccurring in ores, concentrates and the like from imperfect roasting andlikewise wears away impenetrable masses of slime, thereby bringing thegold and silver more readily in contact with the cyanid of potassium orother chemicals.

Except as herein specifically described the operation of this 1apparatus will be or may be the same as that shown and described intheLetters Patent hereinbefore referred to.

In the operation of this apparatus the pipes g and g and the couplingsconnected rotatable casing or barrel the inner walls of which areprovided at intervals with annular plates or rings, the inner walls ofsaid casing or barrel being also provided with radially arranged baffleplates secured to said annular plates or rings, a stationary inlet pipeconnected centrally with one end of said casing or barrel and astationary outlet pipe passing centrally through the other end of saidcasing or barrel, and the inner end of which is provided with anupwardly directed member which opens into said casing or barrel,substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of the subscribing witnesses this 12th day of August1904.

THOMAS D. PITTS.

Witnesses:

J. CHRIs LARSEN, F. A. STEWART.

